yoga for prolapse

Thank you for your comments, g. We have been wrestling with the yoga issue since the earliest days of wholewoman and have had lengthy, and sometimes heated, conversations with yoga teachers (the most memorable of whom have developed prolapse after years of practice.)

I am planning a longer post about the issues and hope you will look for it soon on my blog.

:-) Christine

Christine,

I practiced yoga yesterday and spoke with my instructor about your site and your work and the fact that there are so many women out here who probably have prolapses who would benefit from a Whole Woman approach.

She was very, very receptive especially to the idea that we should not tuck the tail bone and we should pull up and not in, and she agreed that for women, Mula Bonda (sp) was the best core strengthener. Then in class she talked about the idea that without core development, there is no point to practicing yoga. She is open, honest, and a brilliant yogini.

She insists that yoga is a very personal and changeable journey and she encourages us to continue to review our bodies throughout the 1.5 hours we practice. It's a very gentle, very slow, very doable time that is meant to be just for us. She offers personal advice throughout the class and never hesitates to stop look and listen.

That's the way I have been taught to practice yoga. Just throwing myself into a prideful, reckless series of poses makes no sense. For someone like me with prolapse, I must take very special care to understand which muscles I will be using to do a particular pose, and how it will affect my body. Then before I go into a pose, I pull up, hold, and then do the best I can with the regular pose. Some of them I simply don't do.

So why yoga? Because yoga is stationary, quiet, peaceful, and it builds a tremendous flexibility I need to get down on the floor with very young children. I need to be able to squat, sit, put a train set together, look at a bug at close range, and tie a shoe that's three inches off the floor. I need to be able to hike, swim, ride a school bus for six hours in the heat, shop for hundreds of dollars worth of groceries, school supplies, stand in line, clean thousands of square feet, spelunk, and carry a child who has fallen asleep. Because of Yoga 101, I can do those things like tie those shoes over and over again with my own head six inches off the floor! It's then that I do a kagel - just for fun! :) And I think of you!

I know yoga won't fix anything, but it will allow me to engage in my life a lot better and be a whole lot stronger with a lot more vitality. I know it's not for everyone. It takes a tremendous amount of work, but it takes thought too. It takes perseverance, understanding, and commitment.

These are the backbone of what you seem to be teaching at Whole Woman - perseverance, understanding and commitment.

Affectionately,

Judy

Change what you can change; be happy with what you cannot.

I too developed prolapse while practicing Yoga - my style is Daystar --my teacher's mother is now experiencing bladder problems because of her early female surgery, and I became concerned and gave up weight training and yoga for almost 11 months --I find that giving up yoga was a major mistake -- yes there are posses that must be avoided, but the benefits greatly enhance organ and muscle stability. My yoga teacher respects limitatios and teaches no pain, no strain, and gentle movement. I restarrted my yoga about one month agao, and am glad that I returned. I practice Christine's moves twice a week along with my weekly class. I read Christine's first book and watched her DVD almost 2 1/2 years ago. Purchased her new book and noticed her new exercise routine and have wanted to ask her which is better, but I will let my body tell me the difference.

My history is 10 years free from cervical cancer and still have all my parts --and my doctor who admits she knows very little about my condition - and having survived a heated screaming match when I refused to render my female organs to the hospital floor. I chose to keep everything and to use acupuncture and Jin Shin Jyutsu (Japanese Energy Method) after a LEEP procedure in 1997. So now @ 62 I need to plan for more stability against my sagging parts, and yoga will be a major part of this plan. Christine's statement that this is a structural problem is probably the most significant statement of prolapse. I have a tipped uterus and also have family tendency toward scolyosis, and hips that are so tight I will never experience a full lotus. Arthiritus is also a major aging concern--but what affects us all is daily concern with elimination. When the Boby Works show came to Denver and I could see how all our female organs are located in one area, and with wonder studied a cross section of the lower body and what efffects that constipation and being overweight has on our prolapse, and I have become an advocate of toxin cleanses and fasting at least once a month for 4-5 days.

I kow very little of the services at the clinic, but i am hoping there are classes that will teach the correct posture of walking and yoga classes and am hoping that Christine will respond with the yoga vs dance exercises.

It would be nice to discuss all these subjects with my doctor, but at least she admits what she does not know and respects my choice to trust my instincts and my body.

Yoga a gem for women Geeta S Iyengar.I found the book at the Library yesterday...and I find it very good,I am going to order one from the book shop....Anyone else come across this book?

I've been lent this book and am a bit frightened to try anything as
I've discovered how easily things get triggered down there...
Does anyone have an educated opinion as to which few poses to start with ?
Thank You,
Zelda

Hi Zelda
Not being a serious yoga doer I can't really tell you where to start but I would draw your attention to Christine Kent's Blog on Yoga, "Why We Need A New Yoga For Women". I have run these amendments to standard yoga past my local yoga teacher, who was most impressed with them and now teaches them as a part of her regular classes for women.

I would suggest that you find a qualified teacher to learn yoga as a beginner, tell the teacher about your prolapses and print off the blog with the linked images inserted, and literally take it to the teacher and discuss it with her before you start. That way you will be educating another teacher and learning yoga poses that will not harm your prolapses.

I would suggest you go for a female teacher, as I think this might all be a bit much for a male teacher to understand unless they are prepared to read Christine's book. I think all yoga (and other exercise) teachers who teach women should read it anyway, but that's another story!

Cheers

Louise

I didn't know about the blog.(Is that on here?) I have friends who are yoga teachers and didn't know anything regarding prolapse-they welcomed any info I could share...

got it!

to pay for ANY healing at this point. I have to accept flying solo.
I've done Yoga in my distant past... but remember nothing beyond the sun
salute (?)
I really hope to get the video at some point. But not when it's that or groceries
-or foreclosure. I'll just get back to my walks. I miss them so terribly. But I grieve
not being able to get to my remote spots now. i just can't walk that far. Now
I am stuck in the dog shit zone. Seems darkly metaphoric.
Zelda

I once saw some yoga videos available for loan at our local library. just a thought.
and I'd bet there's tons of stuff on youtube

Which postures help rather than challenge? I get no twists.
I do Not want to experiment. i would like , say 3 postures I
could safely do to increase circulation and strength. Maybe
it's just not that simple.
Zelda

I don't have much time right now but I will come back later. I just wanted to say there are yoga poses that help a lot especially downward dog.

maybe 3 times a day?

I would go with:
downward dog
seperated leg stretch
and the half moons

downward dog b/c of how good it feels
seperated leg stretch to lenghten hamstrings
and half moons to strenghten shoulders and back and obliques.

this would take me about 7 minutes to complete.

and I will second the library rec. you can even borrow dvds and cds now.

I think I will look those up and try them. never did yoga before
will probably hound you with ???'s

Alemama, I appreciate it ! i found just " the dog" in my Iyengar book,
and the half -moon. I'm guessing the sep. leg stretch is sitting on the floor,
and leaning forward a hand to each foot ? Called Upavista Kona in the book ?
Any how it's a great start. I'm not anxious about doing it right as I am a fabulous
mimic if I can see it done. So I'm off to the 'ol library in search of video.
Hugs,
Zelda

I found a clip on youtube showing how its done and I've been downward dogging all afternoon. its FUN and feels GOOD
now how come I've put off yoga this long?
thanks again alemama!

good to hear you sounding better, Zelda(??)
Ok y'all...what do you think about this?
I forwarded Christine's yoga page to my friend and she replied with a suggestion that I become a specialized yoga instructor for women! (No I'm not an instructor at all at this point and I know it is a long haul). I have been training to be a midwife on and off for years but finally decided it's not a career for me as long as my kids are young.
Yoga on the other hand, if I learned the right way to do it for my body-and could help other women...and could stay in great shape by doing it every day...hmmmm....I could start a new trend?!

I think its a great idea, stella
you could make such a difference that way, just think of how many prolapses you could prevent. you'd be in the position to educate women before they have a need to seek out this information.

thanks for the encouragement! Maybe I have a new calling.....

I know time is short, but I think this is a GREAT idea. I would LOVE to find a prolapse-educated yoga instructor around. I want to exercise, but am so afraid of making my prolapse worse that I don't. Busy life = no time to educate myself much on the right vs. wrong poses = don't do anything = bad.

You need to become a yoga instructor for women and move near me. :-) Really though - how wonderful it would be to help women PREVENT these problems!

Hi All

Christine's blog entry plus all the photos that go with it, can be pasted into a 16 page Word document, which you could print double-sided.

If you know a yoga teacher, please do this, and include the website URL on the cover page to encourage them to visit the site. Also mention the book Saving the Whole Woman on the front page as well. Blogs and websites are only useful to the people who see them. I know a lot of women who do not even have internet access, so printing off this blog entry will enable them to learn about Christine's work, and be motivated to buy the book and have a look at the site on a community access computer, or perhaps with a friend who does have internet access. The more yoga teachers who see this work, the better value women are going to get from their yoga, and it will enable them to find out more about managing prolapse and incontinence without surgery.

Women will never find out about any of it if we just discuss it between ourselves. Get out there and gossip about it!! It's what women do best.;-)

Cheers

Louise

Am I missing something? I read it and it didn't look that long(I didn't try printing it) Is it the pictures that make it that long? Or is there something else there?

Hi Stella

Um, I have forgotten now. Maybe it wasn't 16 pages. There are a lot of pictures though, and I did insert them where the link is and left them them full size, so some of them take up over half a page or skip to the next page if the whole image won't fit on the previous page. There is a fair bit of wasted space the way I did it. It did take some time to download each image as we have dialup, and I figured I would only be printing off two or three at the most so a bit of paper was a good investment. OK, I am a lazy sod and couldn't be bothered fiddling around with the formatting. I figured if I just printed it off as it was, at least I would give it to the yoga teacher while the iron was hot. Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

:-(

Cheers

Louise

What if Christine could start a training program !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(like she doesn't have enough going on)
My husband and I are Always joking about starting a non-profit too. hhm.
But even to just do the yoga route IS a lovely idea don't you think MeMyselfandI ?
I did some stretches today for the very first time since the onset, and was Very
alarmed at how tight my hips, hamstrings and calves are. I have lost a large amount
of flexibility. Curious. Bizarre even.

My new drama ? My house has some interest (it's desperately for sale) and now I
gotta get this dump tidied up. And all with 'ol POP singin the low-down Blues.
Wish I had some house-elves.
Zelda